Hotel & Garron Tower
Hotel and Garron Tower
The Harbourview Hotel formerly the Londonderry Arms Hotel was built in 1848 as a coaching house by the Marchioness of Londonderry, Frances Anne Vane-Tempest. who left it to her younger son. in 1884 the property and the estate of Garron Tower was inherited by Herbert Vane-Tempest who was the director of Cambrian Railways, he tragically lost his life in the Abermule train collision in January 1921. The Arms then passed to Winston Churchill who owned it until after the Second World War, though some evidence exists that he sold it in 1923. The hotel has wonderful period architecture and is an integral part of the village, well worth a visit.
The Marchioness had Garron Tower built as a summer residence on an elevated site a short drive outside the village, an impressive building with octagonal and square tower battlements and placements. After her death, it remained in the family and was leased as a hotel until 1939, during the war it functioned as a home for residents from the Belfast Charitable Society House. In 1950 it was acquired by the Bishop of Down and Connor and has operated as a school since then. Well worth a small detour to see, along with the three sculptural forms on the hill beside the school representing the crucifixion.